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PC Shipments: It Could Have Been Worse (and Probably Will Be)

Computers on sale at a store in Chicago. IDC said that Lenovo was the world's largest PC maker in the third quarter.Credit Scott Olson/Getty Images

The new personal computer sales numbers are out from the analysis firm IDC. Which bad news/good news would you like first?

Worldwide, PC makers shipped 81.6 million units in the third quarter, IDC said, a drop of 7.6 percent from a year earlier. While this was less of a percentage drop than in recent quarters, the company said, it was too early to say if the drop in PC demand was easing.

In this shrinking market, the most powerful appear to be the least affected. Globally, Lenovo was firmly ahead of Hewlett-Packard as the world’s largest PC maker. Lenovo shipped 14.1 million units, IDC said, an increase of 2.2 percent. H.P. shipped nearly 14 million, however, an increase of 0.4 percent. Dell was third with 9.5 million units, up 0.2 percent. Acer was off 34.5 percent, and shipments by ASUS fell 34.1 percent compared with the third quarter of 2012.

According to Gartner, another analyst firm, global PC shipments in the third quarter were 80.3 million units, a drop of 8.6 percent. The company also posited gains for Lenovo, H.P., and Dell, and drops for Acer and Asus.

Among the bright spots in the global market, IDC said, are a few smaller regional players that seem able to focus on the needs of their local markets. For example, Tongfang, the world’s twelfth-largest PC maker, grew 10 percent by focusing on specific segments of the Chinese market.

This does not seem to be something that can be repeated on a global scale though. Both Gartner and IDC recorded lower PC shipments for smaller companies, over all. As a rule, all PCs now contend with tablets, smartphones, e-readers and other devices, a trend few in the industry believe will end. Larger companies also can spend more on marketing.

In the United States, the world’s biggest market, things were significantly better (or less worse). Shipments were about 16.4 million units, a drop of just 0.2 percent, according to IDC. Gartner put the United States market at 16.1 million units, an increase of 3.5 percent.

That relatively better performance in the United States may be a reflection of the world economy, where the United States has performed relatively well. Mikako Kitagawa, an analyst at Gartner, said the recent numbers were affected by a sharp drop in shipments a year ago, when PC makers were looking forward to a new operating system from Microsoft (which failed to bolster demand, but they didn’t know that at the time).

Apple, which can be difficult to track accurately, had an 11.2 percent drop in shipments over the quarter, to 1.9 million units, IDC said. H.P. was first, with 4.4 million units shipped, an increase of 3.5 percent. Dell came second, with 3.5 million units, up 2.3 percent. Lenovo was fourth in the United States and Toshiba came fifth.

Gartner said Apple’s sales were off just 2.3 percent, to 2.2 million units, while H.P. had a gain of 4.5 percent and Dell grew 3.3 percent. The company also said Lenovo of China had the biggest increase in the American market, up 24.6 percent, to 1.7 million units.

Part of the global problem for PCs is changing demand for devices. Just as big an issue, however, may be the quality of PCs and laptops these days, said Loren Loverde, vice president of IDC’s tracker team. People used to buy new PCs every three years or so, because they needed more memory or better screens, he said, but “now it can be three to 10 years. A new operating system or a new processor doesn’t make the difference it used to.”

Another issue is the rise of cloud-based software and storage services. People used to need the latest processor to run a sophisticated software package well; now they get new versions automatically updated via the Web, and bandwidth can matter much as processing power. Online storage services mean there is less need to keep photos and memos that can clog up a PC.

“There is no putting the genie back in the bottle,” Mr. Loverde said. “PCs are not the primary device they used to be.”

A version of this article appears in print on 10/14/2013, on page B7 of the NewYork edition with the headline: PC Shipments
Fell in 3rd Quarter.